Suspects captured in "Big Country" Senegal murder

An arrest has been made in the shooting death of Marcus “Big Country” Senegal, who was killed March 30 near the Old School Shack Lounge in Port Arthur. According to Sgt. Scott Gaspard of the Port Arthur Police Department (PAPD), police issued a murder warrant for the suspect, 20-year-old Keenan Novon Anderson of Port Arthur. The warrant was the result of a sealed indictment handed down by a grand jury June 20.

Senegal was killed in one of a pair of shootings that occurred just hours apart early on the morning of March 30. In a May interview, PAPD Investigator Marcelo Molfino described the incident as the result of “turf wars” instigated by competing neighborhood groups, such as East Side versus West Side. Molfino said that a little after 3 a.m. on March 30, PAPD dispatchers received a call regarding gunfire in front of the Old School Shack Lounge at 901 Houston Ave. in Port Arthur. Two people were reported shot during that altercation. One of the two men, 29-year-old Marcus John “Big Country” Senegal of Port Arthur, suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his abdomen.

Molfino said that shortly after receiving the call about the Old School Shack shooting, PAPD received word of a separate shooting at Prince Hall Apartments in the 900 block of W. 14th Street in Port Arthur. Two people were reportedly injured during that shooting, which Molfino deemed a “retaliation” for the Old School Shack shooting.

Then, a few days later on April 2, another potentially related shooting at Prince Hall left one man with a bullet wound to the leg.

After the shootings, PAPD took 18-year-old Telly Roshard “Tello” Joyce Jr. into custody for a probation violation. He was reported to be a suspect in the March 30 shooting resulting in Senegal’s death. According to Molfino, on April 29, Joyce’s probation was revoked, and he received a sentence of 50 years in prison. Joyce has since been charged with murder in the Senegal shooting.

Police had been searching for Anderson since March for a parole violation. Anderson is a prior offender previously charged with “violent gun crimes,” Molfino said, having been arrested for aggravated assault and possession of marijuana. Now, he is charged with murder.

According to Molfino, police apprehended Anderson the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 7.